CNN commentator Scott Jennings cautioned President Donald Trump that a “tsunami” of investigations could be headed his way if Democrats take control of Congress in November, urging the president to “be ready to be fully transparent.” He also admitted that ventures like Trump’s memecoin make him “uncomfortable.”
The comments came during an appearance on CNN NewsNight, where host Abby Phillip laid out a new promotion tied to the president’s $TRUMP memecoin. The promotion offers the coin’s largest holders access to another presidential gala, bringing back ethics concerns that followed similar events last year.
Under the promotion, the top 185 investors on a time-weighted leaderboard will qualify for a Nov. 22 dinner at Trump National near Washington, D.C. The top 29 will receive VIP access, while the four highest-ranked holders will be awarded 18-karat Trump-branded gold watches.
Organizers noted on the website that there will be no private meet-and-greet with Trump and that the president will not accept any gifts.
Phillip noted that Senate Democrats had slammed the move as a “grift,” then asked Jennings whether he wanted to “explain.”
“Uh, no, because really don’t know much about it other than what I’ve read in the press. My assumption is, is that when the president engages in these private arrangements that it’s cleared by the White House counsel,” Jennings said. “And so I would rely upon them.”
Jennings then offered some advice for the administration.
“My other advice is that all of these arrangements, whether it’s this one or anything else, you really, really have to dot all your I’s, cross all your T’s and anticipate that every single bit of this is going to be investigated, should you lose control of either chamber. And you have to be ready to be fully transparent about that when that day comes,” he said.
“I don’t know what the future holds. I’m not in the prediction business, but on arrangements like this, I think they need to be prepared for a tsunami of investigatory activity,” Jennings added.
Phillip pressed further, accusing Trump of “effectively” promoting a “scam coin” and pointing to the large profits the president has made from it.
“You’re not a lawyer, so I’m not asking you if it’s legal — is it right or is it wrong?” she asked.
Jennings offered a candid response.
“Yeah, I’ll be perfectly honest, these kinds of things make me uncomfortable because I don’t like the idea of his name, while he’s the president, being used for things, you know, where people could get hurt. I mean, let’s be honest. And something like this, people could get hurt,” he said.
“So that makes me uncomfortable. At the same time. You know, you do have a phalanx of lawyers there that give you advice on what you can and can’t do,” Jennings continued.
Phillip was not convinced.
“I don’t think they care,” she shot back. “Because why would they do this four weeks before a midterm election? They must really not care.”
The exchange highlighted the stakes heading into the midterms, with Jennings signaling that any business arrangements tied to the president could face intense scrutiny should Republicans lose control of either chamber of Congress.
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